Crash - Need Advice Please

panthro · 15 May 2007 at 19:49

Thunderstorm today washed out all the roads and made huge puddles. Got caught right in the middle of it. Hit a puddle that I didnt see due to such heavy rain, Aquaplaned and smashed into a kerb pretty damn hard. Now the steering is out of line and the wishbone is totally bent so its not drivable. Plus the wheel is mashed up, but im not sure if its buckled.

I am so damn happy that I managed to steer out of it and avoid the lampost that was looming at me.

Car is parked in a pub 5 mins drive from mine. The AA wont tow me as it wasnt mechanical failure. They want £104 to do so. I dont have breakdown cover on my insurance so Im not sure what to do.

My excess is £350. I dont know if I should just claim and lose my 3 years NCB. Or get it towed to a garage and have them assess the damage. Will it get insurance recorded and come up on an HPI register? My hands are shaking from relief that I didnt hurt myself or destroy the car.

NickXX · 15 May 2007 at 19:56

Ouch, hitting kerbs in such a way tends to be pricey. Might be best taking the hit and going through insurance. Accident damage won't be recorded unless the write the car off. You're probably old enough now for it not too make too much of a difference in future years.

Sorry to hear it - you've not had it long either

ScoobyDoo69 · 15 May 2007 at 19:58

The STi ?

Don't go through insurance, it will sting next year. A wheel and a wishbone doesn't sound too bad. I'd maybe get a quote from somewhere like Powerstation? Any body damage on it?

NightShadow · 15 May 2007 at 20:00

What car is it? are the alloys aftermarket? Seriously i would definately not go through insurance. I crashed my Ka into a kirb in similar situation but there was a barrier around the pavement that i went into awell. New bumpers cots me £60 second hand for front and back, alloy off ebay for £50 and a new wishbone for £25. Fitted it all myself and then took to ford for a freee checkup, they tightened the wishbone up a bit as it was not torqued correctly (my tourqe wrench was broke). Then just got the tracking done at quick fit and all was OK and for less than my insurance excess. Total cost was under £200.

NS

Edit - Is the car moveable at all? I just drove home VERY slowly and VERY carefully when i did mine, was also about a 5 min trip. If you can get it home and are mechanically minded at all I would say do it yourself.

panthro · 15 May 2007 at 20:03

The car is a 2002 Impreza ATI with 18 prodrive wheels.

Not sure how movable the car is, as the wheel is not straight, so if I drive in a straight line it will just drag.

panthro · 15 May 2007 at 20:14

im just going to claim. Its not worth the hassle. Excess is only £350 and anything could have happened to the car.

Fr0dders · 15 May 2007 at 20:24

yeah

you should be lucky and only loos partial NCB

you may only be put back 1.5 or 2 years. So you wont loose it totally.

panthro · 15 May 2007 at 20:30

Just made the claim. Its getting collected and put into overnight storage and then getting assessed tomorrow. Im so angry with myself for not being more careful.

[TW]Fox · 15 May 2007 at 21:44

panthro said:
Im so angry with myself for not being more careful.

Sorry to hear what happened but kudos for taking it like a man and not bleating about how it was everyones fault but your own

Hope it all gets sorted for you - looks like you've something to take away from the experience to help it stop happening again.

You realise you can still insist its repaired by Subaru if you want, right?

mattpc · 15 May 2007 at 22:50

Nevermind mate. In a few months the male pride will have recovered and all will be well in the world. Not taking the ****, just remembering similar experieneces (all be it with different cars)!!!

panthro · 15 May 2007 at 23:33

[TW]Fox said:
You realise you can still insist its repaired by Subaru if you want, right?

I didnt know you could do that.

Just had a recovery truck pick it up so I prob wont be seeing it for at least a couple of weeks. Gonna phone the insurance tomorrow and sort a hire car out. If not, Im thankful Ive got my trusty focus

[TW]Fox · 15 May 2007 at 23:35

panthro said:
I didnt know you could do that.

Not a lot of people do. I have a comprehensive policy which offers me a 1 litre car when I use the insurers approved repairer.

My car went to the BMW Main Dealer instead, who gave me a 320i.

ci_newman · 16 May 2007 at 08:14

Could I ask what tyres were fitted to the car (as a matter of interest!)?

It'd be interesting to know whether these top-spec (if you had them fitted) tyres can prevent aquaplaning...

panthro · 16 May 2007 at 11:07

ci_newman said:
Could I ask what tyres were fitted to the car (as a matter of interest!)?

It'd be interesting to know whether these top-spec (if you had them fitted) tyres can prevent aquaplaning...

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. 225/40/R18. They are very good tyres, but the puddle I hit was huge and no tyre would have been able to cut through it.

Dashik · 16 May 2007 at 11:10

ci_newman said:
Could I ask what tyres were fitted to the car (as a matter of interest!)?

It'd be interesting to know whether these top-spec (if you had them fitted) tyres can prevent aquaplaning...

If the puddles deep enough and your going fast enough it might as well be slicks your driving on. As the OP has already hinted at if he'd been going slower / more careful it would not have been a problem.

Credit to him for realising that and not whining.

[TW]Fox · 16 May 2007 at 11:10

panthro said:
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. 225/40/R18. They are very good tyres

I've no idea how different the PS2 is to the PS1 but it's worth noting that in Autocars Performance Tyre Test, the PS1 came flat bottom of the test for Aquaplane resistance - a long way behind the test winners, due in part to its tread pattern.

Phil W · 16 May 2007 at 11:12

[TW]Fox said:
Not a lot of people do. I have a comprehensive policy which offers me a 1 litre car when I use the insurers approved repairer.

My car went to the BMW Main Dealer instead, who gave me a 320i.

IIRC you can tell your Insurance Company where you want the car to go to be repaired, main dealer or not.

My friend had a bump and they wanted to take the car to a third party repair centre, instead he told them he wanted it to go to a local place (best in area) and they said ok (providing the cost of repair wasn't ridiculous).

[TW]Fox · 16 May 2007 at 11:14

Phil W said:
(providing the cost of repair wasn't ridiculous).

Yup - they sent an assessor to view the car before they approved the work.

panthro · 16 May 2007 at 11:16

[TW]Fox said:
Yup - they sent an assessor to view the car before they approved the work.

Yeah, I think an assessor will be viewing my car within the next day or two. The actually storage they took it to is quite a distance from my area but I will specifiy to them that I want it repaired by the Subaru garage down the road from me, or the next nearest one.

merlin · 16 May 2007 at 11:28

None of the Subaru dealers around here actually have their own bodyshop.

Sure they'll take the car and repair it for you - but in fact it's simply getting sub-contracted out to whoever they're in bed with that particular month.

Have you actually seen the Subaru dealers bodyshop with your own eyes?

Cos it might not actually exist...